It's always fun to build custom instruments and go down paths that you wouldn't have thought of yourself. I always give customers lots of choices and value their input and I'm sure the instruments turn out better for that reason. Here are some pics of two guitars that turned out great for their respective owners and each is one of a kind.
One is a completely french polished, 660 mm scale, striped cedar top with some bold maple lines, ebony bindings, and black-chrome premium gotoh tuning machines. I have never used the black chrome tuners before but I really like them on this guitar.
The other is a "spartan" matte finished guitar with french polish only on the european spruce top. It's simply adorned but completely modernized with the appointments many players are asking for including a sound port, elevated fingerboard and a 20th fret. The matte finished back and sides are a catalyzed lacquer that is a really thin finish due to the fact that the lacquer is only about 5% solids. I try to use it sparingly because the vocs are not so great for the environment. I also think the Gilbert Tuners on this guitar really complete the look.
